Trump Plans to Raise Asylum Bar and Speed Deportations

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Homeland Security has prepared new guidance for immigration agents aimed at speeding up deportations by denying asylum claims earlier in the process.
The new guidelines, contained in a draft memo dated February 17 but not yet sent to field offices, directs agents to only pass applicants who have a good chance of ultimately getting asylum, but does not give specific criteria for establishing credible fear of persecution if sent home.
The guidance instructs asylum officers to "elicit all relevant information" in determining whether an applicant has "credible fear" of persecution if returned home, the first obstacle faced by migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border requesting asylum.

Comments

Matthew, this doesn't surprise you, does it? Do you think that asylum officers in the Trump Administration are going to be inclined to find credible fears as often as possible? Remember, they will be conducting these interviews in expanded expedited removal proceedings which are going to be used to move aliens out of the country as rapidly as possible without hearings before an immigration judge.

It doesn't matter what guidance instructions they get. They are going to know what they are expected to do.

Matthew L. Kolken is a trial lawyer with experience in all aspects of United States Immigration Law – including deportation defense before Immigration Courts throughout the United States, appellate practice before the Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and U.S. Courts of Appeals. He is admitted to practice in the courts of the State of New York, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) since 1997.